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Getting Arrested For the First Time Buying Heroin and Cocaine

The below addiction blog was submitted to me by a friend of ours who would like to remain anonymous. However, he wanted to share his story, which he claims was one of the most horrifying experiences of his life. Below is his story.

It was just another morning, there was nothing special about it – at least that’s how it started. I woke up a little earlier than I normally did so I could get to Kensington to get my fix of heroin and Cocaine (affectionately known as “powder” on the streets) for a few days. I was using both heroin and Cocaine. I knew they could kill me but I was in too much emotional pain to care. Cocaine would provide me with energy and feelings of happiness and heroin helped relax me and make the “come down” from Cocaine just a little easier to bear. I remember what I was taught in school….how drugs could ultimately terminate my life and strip me of everything I own. I recall the horrifying movies that scared me as a child. I kept telling myself, “just one more time” but I knew deep down that it was just an illusion of addiction making me feel and believe that I had control when I really didn’t. But this morning was different. Confidently, I went to my usual spot to “cop” a couple bundles of heroin and enough Cocaine to last me a couple days before I had to come back and repeat the process. Part of me enjoyed the journey to the depths but I always felt a lot better once I acquired what I came for and could be far away from the pits. Kensington wasn’t a scary place for me, that was until the morning I got arrested and charged with “possession with the intent to deliver”.

The Arrest

It all happened so quickly. I had just bought a bundle of my usual brand of dope and conveniently the “powder” guy was standing right next to him. $275, a bundle of heroin and 20 dime bags of Cocaine later, I had what I needed to journey back home and wouldn’t need to come back for a couple of days. But as soon as I entered my car, I found myself surrounded by officers on bicycles. Before I knew it, I was up against the car being searched. After only a few minutes, they found what I just purchased and my emergency supply. I always had just a little bit of my previous purchase left just in case I started going through withdrawal and needed a hit. But it was all taken and handcuffs were slapped on my wrists…I was going to jail.

I can’t even begin to explain how I felt. Anxiety and fear crowded my brain like a thick fog keeping me from seeing anything else. I thought my life was over. All the drugs were for me and me alone. But with the amount I had on me, the officers suspected I was “delivering” or selling drugs.

The Holding Cell – Inhumane Solitary Confinement

The handcuffs hurt like hell as they cut through my wrists like a dull knife pressing hard into my arm. After what felt like an eternity in the scorching heat of mid day, I was put into the back of an enclosed van. My only view and light came from a small grated area in the front looking into the cockpit. After a few minutes, two new officers (the driver and the passenger) got in and we started driving. Thankfully, the drive was only a few minutes as the sweat trickling down my face, body and back were making me a dirty mess and the constant stabbing of the handcuffs continued impressioning themselves further into my wrists. Each bump in the road caused me to rise and fall in my seat causing extra pain in my shoulders and wrists from being bound in such an uncomfortable way.

After a brief few moments in a waiting area where officers inventoried my belongings, I was brought to a holding cell where I would stay for an undetermined, unknown period of time while they “process” me. What in the world did that mean? I’ve never been arrested before. I asked the guards but nobody would tell me how long it would take. All they kept saying is that I’d be seeing a judge and I kept asking when. It was Saturday and the officers suggested it might not be until Monday. Were they honestly suggesting I was going to be in this horribly dirty, disgusting, graffiti, urine and bug infested holding cell for the whole weekend and then part of Monday? I was riddled with fear and hysterics. Frankly, the only thing that kept me calm was the possibility of seeing the judge later on that day, which I was told might happen.

There was nothing to do. My wallet, keys and cell phone were all sitting in a locker somewhere and all I was left with was my clothes and my leftover cash, which I found funny that they gave me to hold onto without my wallet or anything else. Even my shoelaces were taken so I couldn’t “hang myself”. I remember making a joke about it in the beginning, questioning why anyone would actually do that. After only a few hours of sitting there alone in that dirty cell with no view, nothing to do and nobody to talk to, I started to understand why they take your shoe laces.

Discussion with Two Prisoners

I appeared to be alone for hours with only one other person in a cell across for me but he literally slept the entire time – Lord only knows how he could sleep. By late afternoon, someone was being brought into a cell diagonally across from mine. There was only a small little window where you could see with your eyes outside but I noticed this guy was staring out just as I was. So I tried to get his attention. At first, he wasn’t responding but it turned out he didn’t know I was talking to him. After awhile, we spoke and shared stories about why we were both in jail. He was in a domestic violence situation and I had possessed drugs (never with any intent to deliver although apparently that’s what they thought). We shared stories about our relationships and that if we ever got out of this bind how we would love and cherish our women and families. He also told me what to expect…first, I was to get fingerprinted, then, I had an interview through video chat and then, eventually I would see a judge on video. I found the technology kind of cool but sitting there waiting incessantly was one of the worst experience of my life.

Around 8:00pm, a few hours after the other prisoner was bailed out (after I was there already for about 8 hours), they threw someone into my cell with me. Truthfully, I was happy…talking to anyone was better than being alone. So he and I talked, shared stories and just as with the other, we talked about relationships. His name was Angel and he had just bought a “nic” of weed (which is literally $5 worth. And he was in the same predicament as me, thrown into a cell and would probably be there for at least 24 hours.

Somewhere between these conversations, I had received both my fingerprinting and my interview with the bailiff. The bailiff on the video phone told me that I’d be talking to the judge before 8:00pm – well, I didn’t speak to him until 5:00am. After I was told I was being charged with “possession with the intent to deliver” and told that I make too much money for the public defender and must hire a lawyer, I had the opportunity to post $1000 bail. Thankfully, I was able to pay it and a couple hours later, I was let go. But between those times, Angel and I were both praying and both very worried that this would be the end of our lives. I can safely say that this holding cell experience was one of the worst experiences of my life.

Released from Jail, Now What?

Being released from jail felt great, I never appreciated freedom and life so much. But I knew there was a long road ahead of me. I was deathly afraid that I would have to go to jail so I knew I had to hire a good attorney. Having never been in trouble with the law before, I didn’t have a criminal attorney and had to start looking for one. It was my hope that I’d find a good one and be able to get out of this mess. I finally found one after searching online and now have to wait everything out. I will share the rest of the story once it comes to fruition but I ask for prayer that everything works out.

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